Following a school community safety survey and work to assess the district’s safety processes and staffing, Niskayuna has made improvements to overall safety and security across our district for the 2025-26 school year.
That broad investment includes expanding our district team of security monitors. The overall safety and security team is spread across our eight schools and includes a school resource officer in partnership with the Niskayuna Police Department and a campus safety and security coordinator in partnership with Altaris Consulting Group.
“Investing in the safety of our school community is paramount,” said Superintendent of Schools Carl Mummenthey. “We are proud of the work that has gone into selecting and training the new members of our safety and security team, and we believe these individuals and their collaborative work will continue to make our district a safe and productive learning space for our community.”
School Resource Officer
Through our ongoing partnership with the Niskayuna Police Department, we reinstated a full-time school resource officer position. Sergeant Brandon Maura, a Niskyauna High School alumnus and a 13 year veteran of the Niskayuna Police Department, began building relationships with staff and students when school started in September. He will continue working in all our buildings to foster a safe and positive learning environment for all staff and students.
Security Monitors
In addition to reinstating the school resource officer position, Niskayuna added several security monitors to its campus safety and security team. New this year, there is one full-time security monitor at each elementary school. In addition, Niskayuna High School increased its number of security monitors from four to six full-time positions, including the addition of a senior security monitor. Van Antwerp and Iroquois middle schools have two full-time security monitors each.
Campus Safety & Security Coordinator
To strengthen overall security coordination, our district hired a part-time coordinator to lead our district-wide campus safety & security team. Campus Safety & Security Coordinator Eric Muller joined our team in October through a partnership with Altaris Consulting Group. Muller has more than 25 years of law enforcement experience, eight of which were spent with local school districts.
The safety and security investments also extended to our health, safety and risk management. Niskayuna continues to partner with Capital Region BOCES to assess and manage employee and environmental health & safety, and risk needs such as safety drills, inspections, testing and training.
The 2025-26 budget alone included a new investment of $508,735 in safety and security personnel. This is in addition to existing staff and investments in security infrastructure such as cameras, visitor management software and building systems.